HTML5 provides new semantic elements like <article> and <header> that allow for more meaningful structure than generic divs and spans. It also enables new multimedia capabilities with <video>, <audio>, and the <canvas> element for drawing. Behind the scenes, HTML5 introduces APIs for offline web applications, local storage, and client-side databases. The document discusses these new features and how to use polyfills to provide fallback support for older browsers that don't yet support the full HTML5 specification.